1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer systems including networked systems, computers and/or storage systems. The invention further relates to accessing operational parameters that specify operating conditions for components within such systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the growing deployment of computer systems and software, applications often operate in distributed, heterogeneous environments. Processing in a complex application may be partitioned across network segments, CPU clusters and storage locations. Furthermore, computer systems in distributed, heterogeneous environments may include many different components that impact overall availability of the systems. The increasing complexity of software and the increasing degree of dependence on computer systems have imposed the adoption of various techniques to minimize system downtime.
One of the most cost-effective techniques, and also a major motivating factor behind the evolution of modular construction of computer systems, is the use of modular components. Within a computer system, a modular component may be the smallest unit that can be identified with a specification or by a supplier, distributed and redistributed, and added for expansion or replaced if faulty. A modular component may be any unit designed to be added or replaced at the location where the unit is operating. Such modular components may be referred to as field replaceable units (FRUs). The use of modular components helps to minimize downtime because modular components can be removed and replaced by a user or by trained service personnel without having to send the entire product or system to another facility.
Some modular components may be designed to operate under specific conditions. For example, some modular components may operate correctly only if the modular component operates within a specified temperature range and/or within a specified voltage range. Predefined conditions, such as temperature and voltage range, may be specified as operational parameters for a modular component.
A user may decide to upgrade older components with newer components. For example, a user may upgrade an older disk drive with a newer, faster disk drive. A temperature range allowed for the new disk drive may be different than a temperature range allowed for the old disk drive. Maximum heat load allowed for the new disk drive may be different than maximum heat load allowed for the old disk drive. Thus, although components may be the same type of component, operational parameters may vary between revisions of a component. For example, although an older disk drive and newer disk drive may be the same type of disk drive from the same vendor, operational parameters for an older disk drive version may be different than the operational parameters for a newer version of the disk drive.
Once a component is replaced with a different component or different component version, a different version of system software may be needed to operate the newer component. For example, system software may maintain a database of operational parameters for various components for use in monitoring or managing those components. If a component is changed, the system software may no longer have the correct operational parameters for that component. In a storage system the system software that uses operational parameters to manage or monitor a disk drive may be firmware or software on an array controller. A different version of the array controller's system software may be needed to operate a newer disk drive with different operational parameters than an existing disk drive. Therefore, each time a disk drive (or other component) is replaced with a disk drive (or other component) having different operational parameters, system software may need to be upgraded or replaced so that the system can manage or monitor the newer disk drive (or other component).